BEWARE THE CHILD

They think excessively and nearly exclusively of sex, about every 15 seconds of their waking hours, and they perceive that the most innocent comment or event carries immense sexual implications.  They have experienced sexuality in ways which shock and revile an ordinary person.  Their patterns of lies and manipulation have led them to assume little or no responsibility for their behavior and self-appointed exemption from the rules the rest of us choose to follow.  The bizarre and damaging behavior of adolescent male sex offenders knows no boundaries.

A youngster inflicted bite and sucking wounds over the body of a 17-month-old boy--on his buttocks, upper thighs, lower abdomen, above and below his genitalia, before nearly biting off the toddler’s penis.  Many tricked small children into sexual activities with some common and not so common ploys:  invitations to play “house” or “doctor,” hide and seek, truth and dare or spin the bottle.  Pretenses of being able to tell the future by touching intimate parts of a victim’s body; threats; bribes such as money, toys, sports equipment, clothes, candy, friendship, outings and cigarettes (an offender complained that promising cigarettes was just too expensive for the chance to molest) are common.  One of the most outrageous ruses was that of Loren (more on Loren in Chapter 20) who cautioned his little victims, “Don’t ever let anyone touch you there,” as he fondled the child’s private parts.

A boy was so attracted to buttocks that he stalked girls, approached each one from behind, grabbed her and pressed her buttocks against his body while clutching her breasts; then he ran away.  Another stole girls’ shoes, brought them home to masturbate into them in front of his mother and sister, closely watching their reactions.  A third was deviately aroused by female voices on the phone.  After several calls, he was so excited that he forgot and left his phone number when asked to do so by the female answering machine voice.